Away From Home
by Awkward Neko
Summary: Feliciano Vargus is a 15 year old boy, born in Italy and raised in Germany from the age of 6, attending a German boarding school for the first time where he will meet lots of interesting people and make some crazy new friends. Little did he know however, there is a certain someone he will meet who will change his life. Join for sh!ts and giggles, foreign Feliciano, and cuteness!
1. Chapter 1

**Hai :3**

 **Just thought I'd make a couple things clear before I start writing- for the majority of this fanfic, they are speaking German, although knowing it would be stupid to translate the WHOLE TEXT I just wrote it in English for y'all. I also didn't write accents any differently because we probably all know by now that Feli-chan is Italian. With that aside, enjoy~! (hopefully? If ou did pls review- it means a lot and makes me update a lot quicker, your words keep me going- if you didn't enjoy it tell me what could be improved so I can make it better! :D tysm)**

The large, deep chestnut coloured front door slid open slowly. In front of it, lying still, were light patches of flowers scattered randomly across a grassy garden, and behind it was an extravagantly-decorated main room, gold coat pegs and portraits generously scattered across the walls. A solemn face, white paint highlighting sharp features, looked down on a young boy of fifteen (despite looking at least a couple years younger), tying his shoe laces slowly, sat on the bottom stair. His hands shook slightly, and upon realising this he quickly closed his eyes.

"Feliciano?"

A warm voice suddenly brought him out of his fantasy, and he turned his head abruptly to see a familiar face, looking at him kindly. She had bent down just slightly, and her smile was gentle, as it always was around him. She chuckled softly. "You still there?"

He gave the usual cheerful smile in response. However, this time, she could tell it was lacking the usual optimistic glow that came with it, and she could recognise a small hint of nervousness behind his expression, despite his feeble attempts at suppression. He'd never been good at hiding his emotions, she knew that better than anyone.

"...Don't worry about it Feli." She began quietly, sitting next to the young Italian, hands hovered over her lap daintily. "I had to learn a whole new language too, so I know how you feel. I didn't even start learning German until I was eleven. You've had lots of practice here at home, I'm sure you'll do fine."

He nodded, internally panicking, externally smiling awkwardly.

"And so long as you can understand it I'm sure you'll be fine. You understand _me_ , right? It's no different."

"What if they pick on me for my accent?" He asked, surprisingly quickly for his knowledge of German. He seemed frightened, flailing slightly out of panic. However not once had Elizabeta (nor anyone else except for his brother) been around Feliciano when he was _truly_ scared. Yes, he wasn't the bravest- in fact saying he was weak would be a drastic understatement- however... the typical way he seemed to express his fear, or angst, was more in a childish way. It wasn't true fear, it was simply a temporary state. Only once in his whole life had he ever truly experienced it out of that stereotype. And only one person had seen, and only one occasion was so terrible it made him behave so very out of character, so unlike his usual cheery self. Feliciano would never forget how that felt, but since that day, he'd changed. Maybe, he was trying to appear more positive for those who might worry about him...

"They won't!" She reassuringly chuckled, patting his back for a moment. "I don't know why you'd think that; having an accent just means you probably weren't taught that language growing up. Which you weren't."

"Ve, b-but..." He whimpered, his lips pursing into a childish pout as he looked down. There was so much he wanted to say... There was so much he was worried about. So many things he feared, most of which he'd blurted out to his brother yesterday evening on the phone- not that he was much help of course. He just did the usual thing, giving the usual reply of, 'I don't need to waste money on phone calls of you just crying to me about your crap!' and listened slightly half-heartedly. However, even though he always seemed to do this, for Feliciano it was just nice to talk to someone in Italian again. Even if he was only whining about pointless things, holding the phone close to his ear as he cried pathetically into the other end, he still felt it relieving. Besides, if it was that important, Lovino would listen... he wasn't the best person at giving advice, sure, but he listened, and that was more than Feliciano asked for.

"If that's what you're worried about, then sorry, I can't do much to help."

He nodded meekly, eyes averted to the ground.

"...It's alright." She said, standing up. "I'm sure it'll be okay. Just remember what I taught you and you'll be fine, I know it."

He nodded in response, forcing a smile onto his face, also standing up and then weakly picking up his bags, crammed with all that he imagined he would need for three weeks.

"You're in Vati's car. He should be waiting." She told him with a sweet smile. "Good luck, Feli. I'll miss you!" She hugged him swiftly. "See you in three weeks."

"See you soon." He quietly replied with a smile, taking a step out the door and waving, before gently closing it behind him.

A classroom. Mindless chatter filling every corner of the room. One especially loud corner, one especially loud person making most of the noise in the especially large classroom-

"I AM AWESOME!" A stubborn, overly-confident voice yelled, probably loud enough to make tables move and blow into eachother.

"Keep it down, dumbass!" A bespectacled girl shouted back, light brown hair pulled back into two thick braids below her ears. "We're trying to study for the English test!"

"Ja if I fail, I'm blaming you." A shorter, slightly darker-skinned boy agreed.

"Wouldn't want Mr. Kirkland to punish us by making us eat his awful food or something." She sniggered jokingly.

"Aw come on, you know you like it!" The self-proclaimed 'awesome' male evilly laughed, coming closer to whisper in her ear despite her protests.

Behind him, a taller boy sighed deeply, stood in the corner besides another male (with blonde hair also), his arms folded.

"Hey Ludwig," he began quietly, "you get any sleep last night? You seem tired."

"Hm?" The taller male looked up, sleeking his hair back briefly before replying; "I got plenty."

There was a short moment, where neither of the boys said anything.

"Gilbert being an idiot as ever." Basch brought up, a slight sigh in his voice.

Ludwig nodded in agreement. However as he actually turned his head to look, he noticed his friend suddenly using the headlock technique, and opened his mouth to say something- however he was interrupted just before he could.

"Guten morgen," a familiar female voice called nonchalantly, as a tall, brown-haired female strode in, dropping her papers carelessly onto the desk and plopping herself down into the 'chair on wheels' (which everyone but her seemed to know was just called a spinny chair). There was only a slight decrease in the overall class volume, which remained for about three minutes unwavering and unchanging- however, when she suddenly stood up again, as if remembering or realising something, the class turned to look at her expectantly and fell (almost) silent.

"Sorry, I just remembered there's something I think I forgot to tell you all."

Most students sat down at this point, including Ludwig and his friend- he folded an arm across the desk, listening carefully; unlike Gilbert sat next to him, whispering into a girl's ear most likely not about Mr. Kirkland's cooking. Whether he was being perverted or flirtatious was unimportant. And so, ignoring this, Ludwig averted his attention back onto the teacher, and blue eyes watched intently as she explained to the class, "We have a new student joining tomorrow, which you all probably know by now if I'm right..?"

Her question was replied with a few nods, with the exception of Ludwig and a couple others. He was now both contemplating what the new student would be like, and also wondering how he didn't know about it. Surely, with a friend as popular as one of his closest friends Gilbert (the obnoxious idiot thinking he was the most awesome human being on planet earth), he would have known... Were they keeping it from him? Or had they simply forgotten to say? I'll mention it later, he thought to himself.

"Yes, I thought so. However-"

"Is it a girl?" Gilbert questioned mischievously, a hint of excitement in his voice.

"No, I think he's male." She quickly cleared her throat and continued. " _However_ , I don't think I mentioned another detail about him, which I'd like you all to take into consideration, and be extra kind to him because of it. I'm not saying I'd like you all to treat him differently because of this obviously, I'm merely mentioning it." She calmly said, swiftly pushing her glasses up her nose and pausing for a moment. "He wasn't born in Germany, and he doesn't speak German as his first language. He must know at least relatively good German, to be able to get into this school- but if he doesn't understand something or isn't sure what we're meant to be doing then don't be shy, please help him out because he will be finding all this rather difficult."

Ludwig felt surprised when she'd said this, probably not expecting it, due to having little to no experience with people who had to speak another language in their daily lives... He'd never been one of the top students in his English classes, nor in French; just imagining someone else being forced to learn his own language and communicate decently in it seemed impossible.

"Where's he from?" A cheerful female asked at the front of the classroom, short ginger hair surrounding her smile in thin wisps.

"Italy, I believe..?"

A few choruses of 'cool' followed.

"Italien, huh?" Gilbert bent forwards in his chair to whisper to Ludwig. "You know anything about that?"

He shook his head, truthfully.

"Man though, must be hard to learn a whole new language..." He suggested. The fellow German nodded in response, feeling a certain tinge of respect for this new kid already. Perhaps, if he was mature enough to learn a whole other language, he'd be more like Ludwig, and finally he could have a friend who wasn't clingy, wasn't loud, wasn't immature or childish... Perhaps he'd be one of those people? Just maybe.

Staring out the car window, fingers slightly shaking under his chin, Feliciano watched the scenery outside fly past his eyes. Next to him was his father- or technically, adoptive father- Roderich Edelstein. He was always so distant, cold even, and never spoke as softly as Elizabeta did to young Feliciano- however he played the piano beautifully. Feliciano sometimes liked to stand outside the door and listen to his playing, secretly closing his eyes and getting lost in a beautiful world of music. It was so magical... so soothing, no matter what the piece was.

"What did Elizabeta talk to you about before you left the house?" He suddenly asked, yet with the usual harsh grit to his words. It wasn't that he disliked his son, of course not... he just seemed to find some satisfaction from pushing him around. Perhaps, due to being the most 'womanly' of Feli's parents (he was a perfectionist, loved fashion, and even wore a corset for god's sake- not that anyone knew that), he simply wanted to feel more like a man, he wanted to feel in control like he wished he could with Elizabeta.

Feliciano suddenly snapped out of his daze, looking across at his father more alertly in response to his question.

"O-Oh, she... she told me some advice..."

"And so that means general advice, or anything from a specific topic?"

Feliciano fell silent for a moment, a rather dazed expression across his features. He looked down at his shoes in confusion.

"Hmm?"

"Could you please... talk a little slower?" He asked in the usual high-pitched tone, an awkward laugh following. Roderich occasionly did this... He spoke too quickly for his son to understand- quite the opposite to Elizabeta, who always spoke deliberately more slowly around Feliciano, sometimes even using less complicated language to help him understand. This could be one reason they were closer to each other.

"...You're going to a German school. If you can't understand me speaking in this tempo, I don't know what you're going to do there."

"Agh, sorry padre- I mean vati-"

"I hope you studied extra hard last night." He commented. He _would_ be giving him a suspicious look, although seeing as he was currently in control of a moving vehicle he knew this was not a smart idea.

"I-I studied really hard, I promise-"

"It will be your fault if not."

"No but I did I promise! I was up for a long time looking at all of the vocabulary and the... the-"

"Alright, good..." He sighed, somewhat tired. "We're almost there. Make friends, I suppose, work hard... Try to be less useless..."

The young Italian nodded, silently shivering in his seat, running over every German word he knew in his mind.

 _'I had to learn a whol_ e _new language too, so I know how you_ _feel.'_

He felt slightly less terrified upon remembering his mother's soothing words. If she'd managed to become close to fluent, then surely that meant he could, also... it just might take a while. He could _understand_ a fair amount, that wasn't the problem, it was just speaking it. Having to talk to people, not knowing whether the words coming out of your mouth were completely right or wrong.

Just five minutes later, as they swiftly pulled into the airport's car park, Roderich turned the radio down a notch, and eventually brought the volume down to zero. Then, he suddenly said something, meaning he must have noticed Feliciano's shaking at last and felt the paternal need to reassure him.

"...Be confident. Maybe it won't be as bad as you think." He suggested, talking just slightly slower, or slowly enough for his son to understand. This in itself was surprising, but so was the fact he was actually being nice to him- what was more shocking Feliciano didn't know.

"...Do you think I will make friends?"

"So long as you don't have too many Italian outbursts, sure... why not."

Feliciano cheered up slightly upon hearing his father comfort him. It was rare that he and his father engaged in long conversation, and even rarer for his father to comfort him... it almost felt strange at first. However, he didn't seem to notice this, and instead a cheerful smile formed on his face as he opened the car door.

"Bye Pa- Vati!" He exclaimed happily, gathering his bags, and nervously stepping out of the car.

The clock ticked silently off the wall. It was almost the end of the first 15 minute interval that the students had in between lessons, as indicated by the minute hand slowly shuffling over towards the top of the clock, having long overtaken the shorter hour hand below. The hand continued to move, closer, closer, until eventually reaching it's goal and a loud bell signalled the end of break, and the start of the next lesson. In this case, it was Art.

However just after this happened, as if on queue, every student turned their head as the door opened. First, there was their usual teacher, Mrs Schmidt- although behind her, Ludwig just about saw, was a less familiar face who he presumed to be the new kid she'd mentioned yesterday. As she strode into the classroom with a smile, he followed her, and there were a few whispers as he entered the room. He was maybe a couple inches shorter than average, and had light brown hair that fell accross his forehead in an almost middle part, a glossy shine to it perhaps indicating he'd tried to look presentable... or, it could just be natural. He didn't look like the sort of person stupid enough to spend hours at a mirror. If he was, perhaps he would have dealt with the unruly curl on the left side of his head better.

Gilbert quickly elbowed his blonde friend and whispered to him, "that the new kid?"

Ludwig didn't reply, his reasons unknown. He instead watched the new kid walk to his seat, a little nervously, then sit himself down in the only chair free in the classroom, as instructed to do by the teacher. This was just one to the left of Ludwig, who was currently going over how he could protect him from Gilbert, knowing he'd automatically attack the poor soul the second they were out of their seats. Not only this, though... he wondered how he could approach him. It would be good to make a new friend, and to his parents this was all they really wanted. Because, most likely due to his often unapproachable personality, Ludwig had not as many friends as he (or more accurately, his parents) would like. He had Gilbert, Basch, and a couple others- but to Ludwig's parents this just wasn't enough apparently, despite him being perfectly happy. However, his thoughts were cut short as he heard a name called- his own, and he quickly replied, "ja."

The teacher worked her way down the register, and Ludwig listened for the new kid's name, curious to hear what he was called. However, it didn't actually come until the end, when she had to add his name to the list.

"Felizian?" She questioned, looking at the young Italian expectantly.

"I-It's Feliciano." He replied, softly spoken and in a perfect Italian accent. He didn't seem shy... not personality-wise. He simply seemed a little scared.

"Oh, I apologise." She quickly brushed off her previous comment.

"Feli...ciano..?" Ludwig whispered quietly to himself, perhaps checking if he was able to pronounce it, or perhaps getting used to it. It's a nice name, he thought, implanting the name into his brain (along with the correct pronunciation).

"Could you write it for me? I might get the spelling wrong." Mrs Schmidt asked, handing him the pen as he walked up and scribbled something down on the sheet of paper.

"Feliciano Vargas- am I pronouncing that right?" She asked him softly. He looked back, slightly confused (possibly indicating he didn't understand), however he answered with a cheerful nod and returned to his seat, being watched as he walked.

The second bell rung, this time indicating the end of registration.

"Right on time," Mrs Schmidt murmured to herself, pushing her glasses up with a slim finger before giving the students her permission to leave. However, as Ludwig swiftly flung his bags around his shoulders and was about to exit the room, deliberately before Gilbert, she quickly interrupted him.

"Oh, Ludwig? You have art next if I'm correct?"

"Yes." He nodded in response.

"Could you help Feliciano find his way there? I would ask Gilbert, but I know you probably won't get lost quite as easily..."

"...Ja. It's fine." He replied, looking back at the young Italian hurrying to pack his bag, and then tucking in his chair swiftly. Ludwig hadn't had long to wait, and so soon enough he was heading out of the classroom, Feliciano tagging by his side. The hallways were emptier than usual today, they lacked the noise usually surrounding it; this caused Gilbert to question why. Perhaps a school trip, an exchange or something...

"Hey Luddy!" A loud voice suddenly cut through his thoughts.

"Wait!"

He let out a deep exhalation and turned his head, bringing himself to a halt to wait for his friend. He took a quick glance at the Italian male beside him, also stood still, smiling meekly for no particular reason.

"Heh... Thanks..." Gilbert said as he wedged himself in between the two boys, slinging his bag over one shoulder.

"...Sorry." Ludwig somewhat uncomfortably apologised, preferably to Feliciano. "This is-"

"ZE AWESOME ME IS GILBERT, AND _I_ WILL INTRODUCE MYSELF DANKE!" He butted in energetically, elbowing Ludwig as if to prove his point.

"Klein scheiße..." Ludwig muttered to himself.

"SO new kid!" He grinned, and wrapped an arm around Feliciano's shoulders. This seemed to alarm him at first. "Tell us something about yourself!"

Ludwig felt a need to interject, however chose to see what happened first (also slightly wanting to hear the new kid talk) instead.

"What are your hobbies? And is it true every Italian ever loves pizza and pasta-"

"Pastaaaaa~!"

"Well there's your answer..." Ludwig silently commented.

"Not _everyone_... But I do!" He replied cheerfully, an optimistic sort of gleam in his expression.

'He's less nervous than he looks.' Ludwig thought to himself, in slight surprise.

As he approached the art room, he spotted his friend Basch, and sat down in his usual spot beside him (and Gilbert was opposite him, as usual), arms folded over a section the large table. And this time, their table of four was completed when the new kid happily sat himself down in the remaining seat opposite Ludwig.

"Ahem," he quietly cleared his throat, successfully gaining Feliciano's attention, "this is Basch."

Said male gave a small wave across the table, which Feliciano returned cheerfully as usual.

"So you're from Italy?" The Swiss asked, a tinge of curiosity in his voice.

He nodded in response, somewhat proudly. "Ve~"

"What part?"

"I-I don't know the German, but... Venezia?"

" _Venezia_?"

"Uh, uh, boats! There are lots of boats!" He suggested as a clue, forming what might just be a boat with his hands.

"Boats... you mean Venedig?"

"I think!"

"Hm." He nodded calmly in response. "Cool."

"Are you from Switzerland?" He asked, suddenly noticing the small keychain on the blond's schoolbag.

"Ja." He replied. "But, my parents and my little sister moved here a few years ago."

Feliciano nodded patiently.

Suddenly, someone strode through the doors, and the shock of this caused the young teenager to jump slightly in his seat, reaching for the white flag stored in his pocket however lowering his hand when seeing it was just the teacher. He had dark brown hair, somewhat messily scattered around his forehead, and blue eyes with a subtle hint of green deeper within.

"Homework!" He declared to the class, followed by a few groans from various students. "I'm setting it now, so listen; you are all to do two pages in your scrap books, on any self-portrait of your choice, and for this lesson you will be drawing the person opposite you," he explained quickly to the class, "am I clear?"

The students around him began to unpack their homework diaries, and so Feliciano copied and fetched his own from his bag. However he didn't scribble anything down, having had trouble understanding the teacher's fast-paced talking, and instead stared blankly at the page in his book.

Looking opposite the table, presuamably noticing this, Ludwig suddenly raised his hand.

"Yes Ludwig?" The teacher answered, sitting down at his table.

"Could you please write down the homework on the board?" He asked, eyes still averted to the teacher, noticing out of the corner of his eye Feliciano's mildly surprised response.

"Ja, that is fine."

The German gave a brief smile across the table, which Feliciano returned and leaned in to quietly whisper, "thank you."

"No problem."

"Hey Luddy, you need paper?" Gilbert asked, standing up and walking around the table into the 'hallway' of the room- roughly the center.

"I have plenty, danke."

Once finished writing down the homework, Feliciano also exited the table, to retrieve a pencil.

"Portraits... What would be best?" He wondered silently to himself, "2B? No, maybe 4B."

Eventually going with his last idea, he outstretched his hand and swiftly picked up a 4B, and then an HB from the pot next to it.

"Sorry, excuse me?" A voice suddenly said (relatively) softly to him, as he quickly turned around to see the teacher looking at him for a moment. "Are you a new student?"

"Yes." Feliciano nodded briefly.

"Sorry- I didn't recognise you is all. Welcome."

He nodded politely, grabbing an eraser from a little blue pot next to another pot containing a decent array of brushes.

"...You're not from around here?" The older male asked, hand gently rested on the mousepad at his table and eyes averted to the screen as he calmly logged in.

Feliciano shook his head in response.

"Ah, I see. Italien?"

"O-Oh, yes." He replied, smiling meekly.

Once having gathered the appropriate supplies, he returned to sit at the table, gripping a pencil in his right hand and beginning a rough sketch of the male opposite him with a soft oval. He then drew a less faint line down the middle of the oval, reaching a little further than the rounded shape's end. From there, he continued to form his base, and once transitioning onto personal facial features, switched his pencil.

"He's really focused." Basch silently commented, pausing on his own sketch and glancing over at Feliciano's. It was beginning to look more like Ludwig, he noticed- strangely so- and over the art lesson, it began to resemble him even more closely until (eventually) looking almost identical. And yet, still with a beautiful sort of artistic twist within it, a personal twist that made the boy's work his own.

Gilbert at that moment looked over, a wide grin forming on his face as he saw Feliciano's artwork beside him. "Hey, wow!"

"Hm?" The small male looked up, having been suddenly pulled out of his daze.

"Can I see?" Basch asked politely from across the table.

"Aha, okay, but it isn't finished yet!" He replied with a soft giggle, swiftly handing the blond his artwork.

He looked stunned for a few seconds, before then meekly smiling across at Feliciano and saying quietly; "you're really good."

The shorter male smiled cheerfully in response. "Thank you."

"Luddy! Look at this!" Gilbert exclaimed to his friend, quickly taking the picture and practically shoving the paper in his face.

Quickly grimacing across at his friend, Ludwig scowled. However the negative expression tuned out when he held the paper out in front of him, and took a long look at it before (slightly uncomfortably) giving Feliciano the credit he deserved.

"This is really good." He calmly handed back the paper.

Feliciano smiled warmly back at him, in that certain innocent way he seemed to have, honey-brown eyes shining when he opened them. He liked being praised... Maybe because it was one of the ways which made him feel like all those hours in his room alone spent leaning over a canvas, weren't just for his own enjoyment. They were for other people to enjoy. And if he could make other people happy, it didn't matter how little German he knew, he was happy.

"Looks just like you, nein?" The albino next to him commented with a grin.

Ludwig nodded in agreement, looking at his own work in slight annoyance.

"Wait, I can draw something that looks even more like you-" he began, flipping his own paper over and scribbling something down on the back of it hastily. He then presented the paper, showing a round speckled potato. "I can't even tell the difference!" He jeered.

Feliciano laughed softly, while Ludwig gritted his teeth and gripped his pencil slightly tighter. "I do not look like that!"

Gilbert burst out into laughter, and happiness somehow radiated from the table at which they sat, just for a moment.

Feliciano smiled to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Back :3**

 **Here I am with another chapter! And yes, this is going to be a series so stick around for more (if you enjoyed anyway). Also thanks to reviewers as usual- oh and the thing about Austria wearing a corset in the last chapter is actually true, google it XD**

 **(Another detail! If a piece of speech has a * in front of it, it's in Italian. I just felt that google translate would be comoletely wrong and a little disrespectful- so why not just write it in English? I'm pointing it out now though because in the last chapter there was no Italian but in this one there will be^^)**

 **-sorry it's such a short chapter and sorry it's a bit late ^~^**

Gentle footsteps echoed throughout the corrridor. Looking ahead, and seeing a few doors scattered across the walls, Feliciano looked back down at the number on his key again.

*"I was meant to be staying in room 4... But where is it? Shouldn't it be next to 3, which is right in front of me?" He questioned, searching the space again. "Maybe I just need to look harder."

However, when he caught sight of another door, standing alone at the end of the corridor, he caught sight of a neat little number 4 on the front and let out a small relieved sigh.

*"There it is."

As a warm smile worked it's way up his face, he wandered towards it and outstretched his right hand, key dangling from his little finger. Throwing it upwards into the air, he then grabbed it swiftly in his palm, with surprising confidence.

*"I caught it! I told big brother I could do it!" He smiled in satisfaction. That smile soon became a little lazy as he allowed his mind to trail off, eyes still calmly shut and key still held loosely in his hand.

*"I wonder who I'll be sharing with? I hope they like pasta, whoever they are!" He whispered to himself, before turning the key in the door, and letting it slide open. He then poked his head out, somewhat anxiously (possibly praying he wouldn't enter at a bad time); but he was rather surprised when his honey brown eyes met familiar blue ones, ones he recognised to be Ludwig's, and he immediately entered without hesitation.

"Hello!" He happily called with a slightly awkward laugh, "I'm- I think I'm your roommate?"

"Oh, alright." He nodded swiftly. He then briefly gestured towards an empty bed, with white covers tucked neatly into the side, almost touching the right wall of the room. "That's yours." He announced. Although, the bed towards the opposite side of the room looked very similar- tidy, clean, and decently capacious... Feliciano was rather surprised by the condition of the two beds. The whole room, in fact. It looked like it hadn't even been touched let alone slept in, lounged about in, maybe eaten in from time to time- Ludwig seemed very organised. Rather unlike Feliciano, who constantly seemed to have something in a mess that he needed to sort out, or more often allow someone else to sort out. He had always been the baby of the family, to his mother- to his father he wasn't as sure. Roderich seemed to view him more as a slave, it seemed. But a slave he cared for, and one he had watched grow over the years, and one he loved somewhere deep inside him.

"Thanks." Feliciano eventually replied cheerfully, a warm expression on his face as he lay down his suitcase to start unpacking. It took a while, but eventually he had managed to arrange his possessions in a way that wouldn't be too difficult to remember. He was used to sharing, due to being a twin brother and having lived with him for a little less than half his life, and so he figured it wouldn't be as hard now having to share a room... But Ludwig seemed so much more organised, caring more about practicality over style and making a place feel homely. However, at least he had been placed with a friend; this made the majority of things a lot easier. And maybe it would be fun, anyways.

Later in the evening, after dinner, Feliciano's phone started ringing. He'd been finishing a piece of homework when it had, and so as soon as he'd heard the noise he dropped his pen onto the lined paper below his fingers. He got up swiftly, and somewhat cheerily walked over to check the contact calling him- upon a brief glance, he saw his mother's name, and smiled as he quickly held the device to his ear and replied; "hello?"

"Feli! Hello! How is it?" She asked, somewhat excitedly and somewhat curiously.

"It's good. I met lots of people, and I ate dinner just now. They had pasta!"

"That's great! And you were okay understanding everything?"

"Most of the time. In Art the teacher spoke a bit fast, but my new friend asked him to write the homework on the board."

"That's sweet. What's his name?"

"Ludwig." Feliciano answered quietly, quickly glancing over to see said male entering the bathroom, hair slightly less sleeked back than usual (indicating he was probably getting ready to go to bed).

"What's he like?"

"He's nice, but scary.."

"...Why did I ever worry about you?" She warmly said, and Feliciano didn't need to see her to know she'd be smiling. "I miss you already."

"And me." He said a little sadly. However, he was used to spending time away from family members (Lovino), and so his expression didn't remain glum for long.

"Papa isn't here right now, but I'm sure he hopes you're doing well too." She said, the faint sound of a whisk in the background. "Oh, and I have some good news for when you get back!"

"What, what?" He asked, jumping a little with the alacrity of a young child.

"Antonio told me that Lovino might be able to stay over in Germany for a week when you get back."

"In Germany?"

"Ja, apparently. I don't know how keen Lovino is about being in Germany, but keen enough to go, clearly. So you can see your brother and your family at the same time!" She informed him, cheerfully.

"That's good." He replied, a warm smile painted on his face.

"But you'll have to help him with the German, obviously."

"Okay."

"Anyway, I should probably go now, or I'll cost you a fortune."

"Okay."

"Bye! I'll phone soon, promise."

"Bye!" He replied quietly, then waited a moment before ending the call with a swift tap onto his screen.

He fell back into the soft sheets, that smelt slightly of hotels, or perhaps it was washing powder. His eyes fell shut for a moment, and he used this time to absorb the information he'd just been given, to look over it. And to look over his day. His first day here, and how it had gone, what his life was to be like from that day.

However, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he felt a soft prod on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes to see Ludwig stood over the bed, glancing at him in, possibly, concern. But it was unlikely.

"What is it?" Feliciano answered, narrowly opening his eyes again.

"S-Sorry, I thought you were sleeping." He replied, a little uncomfortably. "Sorry."

"No it's okay!" He answered, sitting up at that moment.

"...Hey, what's your family like?" He asked, reasonably politely, blue eyes focused on nothing in particular.

"My... family..?" Feliciano took a moment to answer this question. He could say a number of things- his family history was certainly an 'interesting' one. There had been many ups and downs, many different stages different members had went through, at different ages in different places- there never had been a strong link connecting anything. It was almost like a completely random handful of people across Europe, somehow grouped together despite being so far apart. But it was complicated, and difficult to explain- let alone in another language. Not only this though, but talking about it in too much depth, Feliciano knew, would being back some haunting, repressed memories that he didn't want to remember. He didn't want Ludwig to know _that detail_ yet. And so Feliciano simply did his best.

"Me and my twin brother Lovino were born in Italy, but when I was a baby my mother, she... she died... I never saw her. And then when I was six my father, uh..." He explained, trying his hardest to keep a smile plastered on his face, but somewhat struggling. However he was used to this, and so he quickly recovered within a second and continued talking. "I don't know how to say it in German," he lied, "sorry."

The blond nodded, listening intently in pity, curiosity and astonishment. However these emotions only showed faintly on his face.

"I had some family who lived in Germany, but Lovino really didn't want to learn a different language so he was adopted by a nice man who can speak Italian. He lives in Spain and I visit him sometimes- the man who watches him really likes me- but Lovino doesn't like Germany so he never visits me. I don't know why. Germany is nice."

"...Sorry." Ludwig said pitifully, however keeping the same straight face, blue eyes averted slightly downwards. "About your parents."

"It's okay!" He lied, a bright smile on his face. "Ve~"

"That must have been hard for you." He said, still rather surprised at finding out Feliciano's parents were (or so he assumed) dead. And that his twin brother lived so far away from him. And that he'd practically been pulled out of his own country when he was six, dragged into another one, and then forced to speak their language. With people who weren't even his real parents. It was shocking, but at the same time so amazing... Two people had been able to take in and love a child only distantly related to them, who had just lost the only parent they had left, who had been separated from their twin and who couldn't speak their language. And yet, from the phone call he'd overheard, they sounded so happy, like any other mother and son would.

"Oh, and you speak German at home?" He questioned, possibly in an attempt at changing the subject.

"Ve~" Feliciano nodded. "Or I try."

"That's surprising."

"My mama taught me. She's Hungarian but she speaks German really good." He explained. "Sometimes it's a bit difficult, so I don't talk a lot at home."

He nodded, with the smallest smile on his face. Feliciano was so different to the shy little new kid Ludwig had seen yesterday, telling him about his past like it was nothing, speaking German confidently, smiling no matter what. He was almost an inspiration, seeming so pathetically weak on the outside and yet, so strong emotionally.

'Maybe he's not such a crybaby after all.' Ludwig wondered.


End file.
